Chapter 31

The two men behind Kostya pushed against him, preventing him from going after Meredith. Grabbing a hold of his upper arms, one held a pistol to his side, and one grasped a stun gun at his neck. Kostya forced himself to inhale slowly through his nose instead of relying on the shallow panicked breaths his body naturally reacted with. Meredith was gone, but he’d be damned if he would complicate things by freaking out.

“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you,” he promised, sneering at Vlasenko.

“Just fix the components so they’ll work and you can have your American princess.” Vlasenko waved off Kostya. “There’s a train to Cherkasy tonight. Your well-armed friends here will make sure you’ll be on it. From there, you’ll be taken to the silo where you will work until the missile is launched.”

“And where will you be?” Kostya demanded.

“Kostya, Kostya.” He stepped up to him so his face was inches away from his. Taking his hand, he lightly slapped Kostya’s cheek. “Don’t you know it’s rude to question your superiors?”

“Go to hell.” Kostya spit in his face.

Vlasenko spun away from him and then hauled back with his fist. Catching him in the jaw, Kostya’s head snapped, but he was held in place by the two guards so he didn’t fall. Vlasenko pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and wiped Kostya’s spit off his face while blood dripped down Kostya’s chin and onto his shirt.

“See what your insubordination made me do?” Vlasenko sneered. “That’s why you failed at EuroMaidan and why you’ll never amount to anything.” As Kostya shook off the hit, Vlasenko rattled off some instructions to the guards, and he turned and exited down the hallway.

The next two hours were muddled in Kostya’s memory as he was forced out of the hotel, into a car, and onto a train destined for Cherkasy. The guards shoved Kostya down an aisle between the economy seats on the train. The train was cheaper than driving, but it was a more roundabout route, so the trip was scheduled to take about six hours. Kostya was shoved up into the window seat, and one of his escorts sat in the aisle. The other sat in the seat directly in front of him and set his bag in the aisle to dissuade other passengers from claiming the spot.

My bag has my cellphone in the pocket.

The guards had kept tabs on Kostya’s bag ever since they plucked it from the car in front of the hotel, and there was little chance of accessing the phone without them noticing. So what if he acted like it wasn’t a problem?

“I need to call my sponsor for Humanitarian Relief International. He’ll be expecting me at the clinic and if I don’t show, he will contact the authorities.” Putting the bag on his lap, Kostya pulled out his phone.

The guards looked at each other, unsure of what to do. “I don’t think I can let you do that,” the one next to Kostya said.

“Why not? Vlasenko doesn’t want a bunch of people hunting around. Besides you can listen in. I won’t say anything I shouldn’t.” Kostya tapped on the back of the phone. “If he didn’t want me to call, he could have taken my phone at the hotel.”

“It can’t hurt to stop some problems before they happen, eh?” The second guard shrugged at the first.

The guard sitting next to Kostya nodded. “Make it quick, Cossack. We don’t need trouble.”

Kostya dialed the phone and listened to it ring. Right before he was going to hang up, a timid voice answered.

“Hello.”

“Serhiy, it’s Kostya. How’s is your wife?” Kostya gave the guards an animated thumbs-up.

“Olena is fine. She is preparing for the upcoming visitors. You know her, always the hostess.”

“Yes, of course. But, I’m calling with news. I wanted to tell you and ask you to get a hold of Dr. Nichols as well. Meredith and I have taken different paths, and we won’t be able to get to the clinic as planned.”

Oh? That’s too bad. Dr. Nichols will be disappointed.” Serhiy, usually very animated, used a tremendous amount of control in his voice.

“Yes,” Kostya continued. “The clinic may need to call in replacements. There should be a lot of action around Kiev, in particular.”

“Hmm,” Serhiy said. “Are you going to be near Cherkasy? You know you are always welcome.”

“Yes. Yes, thank you,” Kostya said. “My work will bring me to Cherkasy soon.”

The men said goodbye, and Kostya hung up the phone. Guard number two nudged guard number one. “See, no problem.”

****

At TRUST headquarters, Ben got off the call with Serhiy just minutes after Kostya’s call. Saying his work was taking him to Cherkasy could only mean that he had been successful being assigned to the silo, but his call indicated something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. He was pretty sure he knew what Kostya meant by calling in replacements—he was asking for help—but, what did he mean about Meredith and him splitting up? Kostya never would have left Meredith’s side voluntarily.

He ran the GPS in Kostya’s phone. He was moving between Poltava and Cherkasy. Judging from his route that ran north, he was on the train. Running a quick search, he found that the train would arrive in Cherkasy around four p.m. If he alerted his NATO contacts, he could get eyes on the train station to be ready when they arrived.

Next, he tried to run Meredith’s location from her phone, but he didn’t get anything. Either the battery was removed from her phone, or her phone was destroyed. He didn’t like this, especially if Kostya and Meredith were separated.

Ben called Ethan, waking him up. He explained Serhiy’s call, and Ethan whistled. “There’s no way we’re keeping Will out of this. We better call in the troops.”

“I thought you’d say that. Let’s meet here at…” he looked at the clock, “…nine o’clock. I should have some idea what is going on with Kostya by then.”

Ethan agreed to alert everyone and hung up the phone. Ben looked around the room. All the equipment in the world wouldn’t help Kostya or Meredith if they got mixed up with a rebel group that was set on making a statement with death and destruction.

He sat at his desk and logged into the CIA information system and looked for any updates to the files on Petro Vlasenko and Fire of Dawn. There wasn’t much in the way of new information, but there were some surveillance pictures taken in the city of Poltava of Vlasenko inside the hotel Palazzo. Ben slowed down and studied the pictures carefully. There were a set of three photos, taken in front of an elevator where two people were facing Vlasenko with their backs to the camera. One was male with a short, military-style haircut, and the other, female, had shoulder length blonde hair.

“Hello, Kostya and Meredith,” he said to himself. He didn’t like what else he saw, however. Several thugs, dressed in black suits surrounded the group, and it looked like at least one was holding a gun. He set an alert to let him know if any new photos were obtained and logged out.

Ben was pretty sure that Kostya was on the train from Poltava to Cherkasy and from there would probably be going to the silo site. His movements were predictable, and therefore TRUST could take action to help him. Meredith’s location was more difficult to predict so Ben worried. So far, he had no clue of where she was past the hotel in Poltava, and her separation from Kostya put her at risk.

Will was going to freak out.

And the press would have a field day if they found out.

TRUST would have to do everything it could to keep Meredith’s role in this operation unknown but still get her home. All they had to do was find her.

****

After they left Kostya and Vlasenko, Meredith was taken to one of the smaller hotel rooms on the floor. The guard unlocked her handcuffs, but she was trapped inside the room and knew there was a set of guards just outside.

What now? Surely there was something around that could help her escape.

Taking inventory of the stripped-down room, she noted a small double bed, bolted to the floor, and a square end table. There were sheets, pillows, and a duvet comforter on the bed. Tying the sheets together to rappel down seven stories doesn’t seem likely. Nor does smothering a guard with a pillow.

Moving to the bathroom, Meredith noticed it included just a small shower, toilet, and sink with exposed plumbing underneath. Come on, not even a plunger? There was no phone in the room and no television. A small window allowed light in, but it faced the brick façade of another building and overlooked an alley full of dumpsters. The sash was painted shut, and would not budge. So much for flagging someone down for help.

She flopped down on the bed, reeling with frustration and without a plan. So much depended on what was Kostya going to do. If he fixed the encoder, the missile could be launched and hundreds of thousands of people would die. If he didn’t fix the encoder, and Vlasenko followed through with his threat, she would be killed. Although the idea of trading her life to save others was the heroic thing to do, in reality, feeling her own mortality was scary and surreal, especially when the outcome was in the hands of the man she loved.

She scooted back on the bed and propped some pillows to lean against the headboard. She had nothing to do but wait. Her mind was still spinning through possible scenarios when there was a hesitant knock at the door. A petite young lady in uniform peered into the room.

“Miss? I have been asked to get you something to eat. Can I bring you anything from the kitchen?” Her brown eyes darted around the room as if she were afraid something would jump out at her.

Meredith’s stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since morning. She scooted to the edge of the bed and answered in Ukrainian. “Yes, please. I would love some bottled water and some food. What is good in the kitchen today?”

The girl stepped forward. “Cook made a delicious beef stew, if you would like.” Meredith nodded and the girl slid up another step. “Miss, are you in trouble?”

Meredith made eye contact with the girl and nodded slowly. The girl’s eyes arced around the room, making sure Meredith was conscious that they were being overheard.

“The stew sounds wonderful,” Meredith clearly answered.

The girl nodded. “I will return in just a few minutes, Miss.” She reached across Meredith and opened the drawer next to the bed and pointed to the paper and the pen left there.

“Thank you.” Meredith smiled and nodded, and the girl stepped toward the door.

As she was leaving, she heard the girl greet Vlasenko, likely louder than she normally would, to alert Meredith he was coming in. Meredith pushed the drawer closed and sat up just as Vlasenko was entering the room.

He leaned against the wall, just observing her and chuckling to himself. It was as if he were delighted to be there and to have Meredith as his prisoner.

“Stand up for me, dear.” Meredith looked at him, puzzled, so he repeated more insistently. “Stand up, Meredith.”

Meredith stood slowly, trying to look as defiant and as brave as she could.

“Turn.” He gestured with his fingers in a circle. “I want to see what an American woman looks like when she’s yielding herself to me.” He laughed again.

Standing still, Meredith defiantly glared at him. Vlasenko just returned the stare then held up his pistol, cocking and aiming it at her head. “I said turn.”

She took a breath, held her shoulders high, and rotated slowly around. She could feel his eyes examining every inch of her. God help her if he was going to force himself on her. Frightened but angry, she faced him again and purposefully focused on his eyes, forcing him to look at her face.

“What do you want from me?” she demanded.

Stepping in front of her, he grabbed her upper arm roughly forcing her inches from his face. His sour breath assaulted her as he bruised her arm with his tight hold.

“Be careful how you ask what I want, Meredith. I may take more than you want to give.”

Meredith’s face reddened and she jerked her arm away and backed away from him. “Take your hands off me,” she forced through clenched teeth. “You will pay if any harm comes to me.”

Vlasenko folded his arms casually and leaned against the wall, shaking his head and chuckling in amusement. “Meredith, or shall I call you Dr. St. Claire? Hmm?” He was mocking her now. “No harm will come to you as long as I get what I have been promised.” He reached out and put a lock of her hair between his thumb and fingers.

“Until then, I won’t harm a single hair on your head. Not. One. Single. Hair.” Breathing harder, he pushed the lock behind her ear in a strangely intimate way. After gazing at her for a moment, he regained his posture, turned, and stood at the front of the room. “Now, we must handle logistics. Since you will be with me for a while, we need to go over the rules.”

“Oh, this should be fun,” Meredith said under her breath.

“Silence.” Vlasenko raised his arm like he might backhand her. When Meredith flinched, he softened his voice and continued. “You may not have items in your possession that I have not approved. No electronics, no television, no telephones, no money…”

“What about clothing, toiletries, tampons?” She added the last item just to get a reaction, and she was rewarded with a small grunt that was shaken off quickly.

“Your bag has been taken out of the car downstairs, but we took the liberty of going through it and your purse and destroying anything that could be used to communicate with our enemies. I’m sure you understand.”

“When can I get my bags?” Meredith said, frowning.

“They should be here shortly. We will leave Poltava later this evening.” He glanced at his watch. “Be ready to travel at five o’clock. I will not be delayed if you are not ready.”

“Leaving? Where are we going?” Meredith knew that a moving target was much harder to follow than one that stayed in the same place, but she also believed she knew where they were going—Kiev to prepare for the celebration.

“You should not worry about the details.” Vlasenko waved her off as he turned toward the door. “We are going to a national celebration: a day which will be celebrated for years to come. It is unfortunate that you don’t have that dress you wore for your father’s fundraiser. You could wear it to toast the birth of liberty in Novorossiya, the eruption of fire for liberty.” He headed toward the door.

“Oh, the hotel’s girl has been instructed to get you anything you would like to eat or drink. I think you’ll find we can be quite civilized if you cooperate.” As he left he whistled the Russian National Anthem.

Just as Vlasenko left, a black-suited guard set her duffle bag and her purse carefully on the floor by her bed. She unzipped each to assess what was gone, and found that the items Vlasenko promised would be gone were indeed missing. She had clothing and toiletries, but nothing to communicate with the outside world.

She threw a pillow against the headboard in frustration, but she knew there was little she could do. Her cell phone and computer were gone, Vlasenko was watching her like a convict in prison, and escape didn’t seem likely. She was starving, and worried, and her head was starting to hurt.

Opening the drawer on the nightstand, Meredith pulled out the paper and pencil. When the girl brought lunch, what message could she send? If she had money, she might be able to convince the girl to get her a cell phone.

Mama always told me to keep extra cash in case of emergency.

She lunged back to her purse, digging into the back zippered pocket—the one that could easily be overlooked. Underneath a wad of receipts and two movie ticket stubs, she found it—her emergency cash, one-hundred American dollars.

Writing a note in broken Ukrainian with the pen and paper from the drawer, Meredith requested a prepaid cell phone. It was risky for sure, but she felt that this might be the only chance she would have to communicate outside. She folded the money into the note and sat back on the bed to wait.

After a few minutes, one of the guards opened the door for the girl who was carrying a tray with Meredith’s lunch. The guard kept a watchful eye, so the exchange would have to be clever. Meredith stood, and went toward her.

“I can take that,” she said as she grabbed onto the tray and brushed the girl’s hands with the note and money.

The girl’s fingers pressed over the note. “I’ve got it, Miss,” she said, her brown eyes communicating with Meredith.

“I’m not used to people waiting on me.” Meredith stepped back. She smiled at the girl. “I am very grateful.” The tray was carefully placed on the edge of the bed, in the absence of other furniture in the room, and the girl bowed her head slightly.

“I will come back with tea around three-thirty, Miss?”

“Yes, three-thirty will be perfect. We will be leaving around five, so that will give me time to enjoy tea,” Meredith said.

The guard escorted the girl out of the room and closed and locked the door. Meredith sighed. At this point, it was out of her hands. She propped herself up on the bed and tore into the stew. She ate, knowing she would just have to wait and see what happened.